I went to the audiologist today. I got my hearing tested. Once I got out of the $64,000 question booth, she retrieved a printout and went over it with me.
"This is kind of interesting. You have mild hearing loss. If you were just sitting at home watching television all day, I'd say right now you don't need a hearing aid. But because you're in an office setting, it's necessary for you to hear - "
"What?"
Ha. Deaf joke.
She explained to me what hearing aids would do for me.
I chose the ones I wanted - teeny tiny behind-the-ear ones. And they are small. From the tip of my little finger to the first knuckle small. If I don't like them, I hand them back in and get my money back. And move on, continuously saying "What?"
I told her that I feel like I'm living on a five second delay. She nodded. "That's very common for someone with hearing loss. Once you've figured what was said, you have to process it. The hearing aid should take care of that."
Does it translate Hindu accents?
I wished that it could have been something as easy as maybe I wasn't paying attention or had nasty ear wax in my ears. But as others before her have stated, "Your ears are remarkably clean."
I worried about how I was going to pay for these things. I contacted the bank and they reminded me that I still have a HELOC open with a 4% interest rate. Okey dokey then.
The new hearing aids should be here in about a week. I'LL LET YOU KNOW HOW I DO WITH THEM. OKAY? WHAT?
Oh. Okay.
2 comments:
Is it the same amount of loss in both ears? Would one aid be sufficient? The problem with only one is that you can't tell where sounds are coming from, but in the office, that's not important anyway. If you're doing fine with other than speech, I guess you can take them off when you leave the office.
This is bad coming right on top of the car mirrors.
I'm afraid to go to an audiologist. a)I know my right ear is bad ever since the rifle range, b) my mother was very hard of hearing by 50, c) I never think my ears are clean, d) I can't stand anything in my ear - ear buds drive me crazy (and there have been a few men who got slugged when they kissed my ear). So I don't want to hear that I can't hear. The cure might be worse than the problem.
I thought of you every time an Indian person spoke to me on the boat.
Post a Comment